Iran freestyle squad confirmed for Budapest Ranking Series
Iran will be represented by 12 freestyle wrestlers at the upcoming the Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial – starting July 17 in Budapest, Hungary.
Milad Valizadeh (57kg), Reza Mo’meni, Ebrahim Khari (61kg), Yasin Rezaei (65kg), Abbas Ebrahimzadeh, Sina Khalili (70kg), Reza Shakeri (74kg), Mahdi Yousefi, Fariborz Babaei (79kg), Ali Savadkouhi (86kg), Mobin Azimi (92kg), and Abolfazl Babalou (97kg) will vie for success across different weight classes at the final UWW Ranking Series event of the season.
The 79kg contests will serve as part of Iran’s World Championships trials, as either Asian champion Yousefi or Babaei – whoever gets the better result in Budapest – will face four-time world medalist Mohammad Nokhodi for a place in September’s showpiece in Zagreb.
Eight freestyle wrestlers have already secured their place in the Iranian squad for the world event – including Younes Emami, who defeated Amirmohammad Yazdani in an all-Iranian 74kg final at the Ulaanbaatar Open earlier in June to remain on course for a third world medal.
Kamaran Qassempour came out victorious against Abolfazl Rahmani in a domestic head-to-head in Tehran to seal the 86kg spot, while reigning world champion Amirhossein Zare’ (125kg) and Ali Mo’meni (57kg) won the Takhti Cup golds to punch the Zagreb ticket, joining Ahmad Mohammadnejad-Javan, Rahman Amouzad, and Amirhossein Firouzpour.
Mohammadnejad-Javan will be the Iranian 61kg wrestler, thanks to a gold-winning run at February’s Zagreb Open, as well as an Asian bronze in March.
Olympic silver winner Amouzad will chase a second world 65kg gold after domestic rivals Rezaei and Ali Khorramdel had below-par runs at the Ranking Series season-opener in February, while Firouzpour’s dominant campaigns at the Asian Championships and the Zagreb Open, convinced the Iranian coaching staff to pick him for the world 92kg contests.
The Iranian 97kg slot will be decided when Ahmad Bzari – also a gold medalist in Ulaanbaatar – lock horns with Olympic bronze medalist Amir-Ali Azarpira in a domestic showdown in the coming weeks.